when the twine grays, know
there is still a lettering
shaped in your glossed spiral.

I gargle Listerine your name
to the thrum of the galaxy
lodged in my throat,

there forever
behind my wolf teeth,
a song alongside you.

BRAZILIAN MUSIC ALL AROUND US

We danced to the Pandeiro

Struck, shaken palms
thumbed words in metal
places we could not fit into

In Rio how the wind would drape
whatever we were hiding,
blonde wind strangling the
açaí palms, cavaquinho in hand,
your rabbit cheek strummed,
wonderland don’t worry
about whatever worries you,
whisper this dream with me
in syncopated beats
until we get it right

⊗

JAMES CROAL JACKSON’s poetry has appeared in The Bitter Oleander, Columbia College Literary Review, Glassworks, and other publications. He grew up in Akron, Ohio, spent a few years in Los Angeles, traveled the country in his Ford Fiesta, and now lives in Columbus, Ohio. Find more at jimjakk.com.